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Friday, 10 February 2017

Nabuwwat and its Functions in the Light of Basic Islamic Beliefs (4)

Another objection raised by munkareen e hadith is
that ahadith are adopted on the attestation of non-prophets i.e. narrators; it
would mean, if ahadith are taken as part of Eman/faith, Eman/faith would be
based on attestation of non-prophets i.e. narrators.

This objection is also baseless because we do not
base our faith/Eman on attestation of any third person (except the person of
our Nabi ﷺ). Actually we base our
Eman/faith on our own ‘tasdeeq bil qalb’; we do not base our Eman on ‘tasdeeq/attestation’
of narrators. The narrators provide us with information regarding a hadith
alongwith the narrators’ views as to correctness or incorrectness of that
hadith. We do not adopt the narrators’ views as our Eman; rather we adopt the
hadith on the basis of our own ‘tasdeeq bil qalb’. If we have developed ‘tasdeeq
bil qalb’ regarding a hadith, only in that case we would be considered as
having Eman/faith in that hadith; otherwise, we would be considered as not
having Eman/faith in that hadith. In the same manner, when we believe in
Quranic verses, we do not base our belief on attestation of Quran’s narrators
through whom Quran has been reported to us. Actually our belief in Quran is
based on our own ‘tasdeeq bil qalb’; if we do not have developed ‘tasdeeq bil
qalb’ regarding Quran, our Eman/faith regarding Quran is not true faith. The role
of narrators of Quran and hadith is to provide us only with information regarding
Quran and hadith; these are we who develop or do not develop ‘tasdeeq bil qalb’
regarding that information and accordingly we develop or do not develop
Eman/faith regarding that information about Quran and hadith. It is sheer
misunderstanding on the part of munkareen e hadith to say that narrators’
attestation of wahi is part of our Eman; narrators’ attestation is only their information
and personal views as to whether or not claimed wahi has been rightly
attributed to our Nabi ﷺ ornot; such attestation has nothing to do with our
Eman/faith in Quran and hadith. Our Eman/faith is always based and has to be
based on our own ‘tasdeeq bil qalb’; if we are able to develop ‘tasdeeq bil
qalb’ regarding a hadith or a Quranic verse, we will be considered as having
true Eman/faith in that Quranic verse or that hadith; otherwise we would be
considered as untrue in our Eman/faith. However role of narrators cannot be
undermined or denied; these are the narrators who transmit information
regarding Quran and hadith to us. Without this information about Quran and
hadith at our disposal, we would not be able to develop ‘tasdeeq bil qalb’
regarding Quran and hadith; in other words, without narrators’ information, we
cannot develop Eman/faith in Quran and hadith. It
is not narrator's authority to label a hadith correct or incorrect for
other peoples; a narrator's view is for the narrator himself. For other people a
narrator can only appeal to their intellect. If narrator's view is
justified according to intellect of people, the people may develop
'tasdeeq bil qalb' for the relevant hadith; otherwise people may reject that hadith. To endorse a hadith as a correct one is entirely an intellectual
phenomenon; whereas Eman in a hadith is entirely a matter of faith. Only with a little sense one can distinguish between the two. And very Muslim does distinguish between the two.
No Muslim believes that attestation of a hadith by narrators is part of their Eman; but munkareen e hadith hypocritically make propaganda in this regard. If munkareen e hadith cannot be 100% sure (and in 99% cases they cannot be 100% sure) about the incorrectness of a hadith, in such cases munkareen e hadith cannot object logically, if a person develops Eman in that hadith. On the basis of doubts, munkareen e hadith do not have right to object logically, if any person develops Eman in a hadith. It may be appreciated that interpretation of Quran is the basic function of 'nabuwwah'. Muslims have to take ahadith as outcome of this basic function of 'nabuwwah'; it is one of the requirements of having faith/Eman in 'nabuwwah'. But it does not mean a Muslim has to have faith/Eman in all sayings which have been presented to him as ahadith. The scrutiny of sayings attributed to our Nabi s.a.w.w. to know whether or not a saying is rightly attributed to our Nabi s.a.w.w., is an intellectual process. After going through this intellectual process, if a Muslim develops 'tasdeeq bil qalb' regarding a portion of ahadith (and majority of Muslims will develop such 'tasdeeq bil qalb'; only a few munafqeen like munkareen e hadith may not develop such tasdeeq bil qalb) such Muslim will meet the requirement of having faith/Eman in 'Nabuwwah'. Similarly in case of Quran, we go through an intellectual process to ascertain that Quranic verses presented before us have actually been revealed by Allah. After going through this intellectual process, we develop 'tasdeeq bil qalb' regarding Quran; this 'tasdeeq bil qalb' is the second name of Eman.

Another objection put up
by munkareen e hadith is there is no need to interpret Quran as Quran is the
easiest ‘kalam’ to understand. This objection is also baseless because a
writing easy to understand may also be comprehensive enough. Quran is not only
easy but also most comprehensive Book in the world. Like every comprehensive
Book, Quran also comes out with multi-layers of meanings, if a reader ponders
over. Easiness of Quran does not deprive Quran of comprehensiveness; a serious
reader of Quran can exact easily many layers of Quranic meanings. It may be
appreciated that Quran is Allah’s Kalam/Words but Arabic language in which
Allah’s Kalam has been revealed is not a divine language. Arabic language is
human creation like all other languages are human creation. Humans always
differ in meanings and application of words of a language. That is why same
contents of a language may be interpreted differently by different people. In
the same way Allah’s Kalam which has been revealed in Arabic language is likely
to be interpreted differently by different people. This diversity in
understanding of Allah’s Kalam actually helps us in discovering all dimensions
of Allah’s Kalam. But at the same time, need arises to channelize human understanding
of Quran so that understanding of Quran may
be put on the right track. This channelization of human understanding of Quran
is done through ahadith; ahadith lead us as to which direction human
understanding of Quran about any matter should go.

It may also be
appreciated that words are something different from the guidance coming out of
those words. If words and guidance from the words would be the same, the
same words may not guide us in more than one different ways; but the fact is
that words guide us in more than one different ways. Sunnah/hadith is the
meanings/guidance received from Quranic Words; this guidance has been revealed
to our Nabi ﷺ through ‘wahi e khafi’.

From the foregoing, we may conclude the
stance of munkareen e hadith is quite baseless, illogical and based on
ignorance.